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A reliable distribution of the future TerraSAR-X Services has recently been secured in large parts of South America: Infoterra GmbH, holder of the exclusive commercial exploitation rights for the new-quality radar data the spacecraft will deliver, has negotiated and acceded to a number of distribution agreements.

• TerraSAR-X Services available in South America
• Further Distribution Agreements under Preparation
• Spacecraft’s Launch scheduled for 2006
Friedrichshafen / Ottobrunn,

“With the launch of TerraSAR-X rapidly approaching, we are facing a constantly growing interest not only in the data itself”, states Andreas Kern, head of Infoterra’s TerraSAR-X Services business development team. “Around the globe, providers of remote sensing data are eager to join our distribution network. They consider the TerraSAR-X data a valuable enhancement to their established portfolios.”
The South American partners GeoSpatial in Colombia, BMP Geomática in Peru, Gtt NetCorp in Mexico, and Gtt Netcorp LA in Panama will be assuring reliable access to the new services for clients in their respective countries. Customers in Brazil will receive TerraSAR-X products and services through Engesat, Novaterra, and Imagem. Furthermore, Infoterra’s long term-partner GeoVille Information Systems GmbH, based in Innsbruck, Austria, has been appointed distribution partner for this country. All corresponding contracts have been signed during the summer months.
“We are very glad to be able to announce such a rapid growth of our distribution network, even prior to the satellite’s launch,” says Joerg Herrmann, Infoterra’s managing director. “We are convinced to have selected skilled partners, who will contribute significantly to a dependable distribution of our products and services.”
Infoterra now works towards wrapping up several additional contracts
-distribution agreements and data reception contracts alike
- which are still being negotiated. Herrmann expects to be able to finalize at least two further agreements before TerraSAR-X’s launch later in 2006.
About TerraSAR-X
TerraSAR-X is a German radar satellite scheduled for launch in 2006. The spacecraft will deliver radar remote sensing data of an unprecedented quality: 3 operational modes, one of them delivering a resolution of up to 1m, flexible beam steering, and daylight and weather independent data acquisition are only a few of TerraSAR-X’s unique abilities. The exclusive commercial exploitation rights for TerraSAR-X data lie with Infoterra GmbH. The spacecraft was realised in a public private partnership between the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and Infoterra’s parent company, Europe’s leading satellite system specialist Space GmbH.
About Infoterra
Infoterra GmbH was launched in 2001 for the purpose of exclusively pursuing the exploitation of TerraSAR-X. This allows the company to offer to its clients an extensive portfolio of TerraSAR-X based products and services, ranging from basic radar imagery to sophisticated geo-information products and thematic applications, as well as direct access services. Furthermore, Infoterra GmbH has established a leading role in providing land services within the European GMES Initiative of the European Commission (EC) and European Space Agency (ESA)
Infoterra GmbH is part of the Infoterra group which comprises companies in France, Germany and the United Kingdom with 300 employees and a turnover of 50 Mio Euro per year. Infoterra GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Space GmbH.
About BMP Geomática
Since 1995, BMP is a company dedicated to research, development, promotion and sales of GIS and remote sensing systems. BMP is committed to generating customer benefit through the efficient use of information- and Earth Observation technology in order to improve their processes and businesses.

About ENGESAT Imagens de Satélites S/C Ltda
ENGESAT is located in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Founded in 1997, the company markets satellite imagery of South America to clients worldwide. ENGESAT offers data from several satellite suppliers as well as specialized processing, including 3D modelling, to serve the geo-information market and end users. It is recognized for its extensive partner network in Brazil and South America, and for offering innovative solutions.
About GeoSpatial
GeoSpatial is a leading engineering company founded in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1997. Its team is formed by specialists in applied geomatics, consulting, innovation, and GIS solutions, providing products and services for the local and international markets.
About GeoVille Information Systems GmbH
GeoVille Information Systems GmbH is an internationally operating consulting company based in Innsbruck, Austria. It is dedicated to the complete range of value-added GI-services in the land domain. GeoVille provides consultancy, services and products in the geo-spatial domain, specializing in remote sensing and GIS applications.
About Gtt NetCorp and Gtt ImagIng
Founded in 1994 in the United States, with operational bases in Mexico and Panama, Gtt NetCorp – with its satellite imaging division Gtt ImagIng – is a leading provider of satellite imagery and related imaging software and hardware products in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Gtt NetCorp‘s staff has over 20 years experience in the design, development and implementation of leading-edge solutions.
About Imagem
Since 1986, IMAGEM has been developing customized solutions in geotechnology. IMAGEM is leader in GIS solutions and remote sensing in Latin America, with six offices in Brazil and several partners. IMAGEM also provides databases of the national territory, solutions to mobile GIS, street maps, building heights and mapping. IMAGEM serves e.g. the following markets: utilities, oil and gas, telecommunications, agriculture, logistics and transports, defence, government, environment, and finances.

About NOVATERRA Geoprocessamento e Des. de Sist. em Inf. Ltda.
NOVATERRA is a geo-processing and environmental consulting company based in Rio de Janeiro. Using satellite data and aerial photos Novaterra provides remote sensing, GIS and mapping solutions for various applications such as utilities, mining, oil & gas, environment, forest, agriculture and urban planning. Novaterra has a multidisciplinary staff developing value–added services using up-to-date technologies for the Brazilian market.
For frther information and image material, please contact :
Infoterra GmbH
Communications,
Tel.: +49-7545-8-3924
Mareike Doepke
Fax.: +49-7545-8-1337
mareike.doepke@infoterra-global.com
This and other texts as well as high-resolution
images may also be found at:
www.terrasar.de

Indra Espacio S.A., subsidiary of Indra responsible of the space related activities, is a leading ground segment specialist with an extensive experience in the last 25 years in a range of activities such as project management, system engineering, system design and development, system integration and test, product assurance, applications development, etc.
Indra is the leading Spanish company in Information Technologies with a workforce of more than 8200 and revenues of 1202 M€ in 2005.
Indra Espacio benefits from the host company infrastructure and advantageous position, in particular for:
• On-demand access to INDRA’s IT specialised departments (competence centres): Software Factory, Network Management, e-Business, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and SCM (Supply Chain Management), Internet infrastructure, Consultancy, CRM (Customer Relation Management), etc.
• National and international sales networks and subsidiaries
• Centralised administration including a large size purchase department
• Human resources intranet, corporate image, etc.
Indra Espacio, with a highly skilled staff of 265 employers in 2005, offers turn-key solutions in the areas of Telecommunications, Remote Sensing, Satellite Control and Navigation, besides Logistic Support in live Cycle. Our flexibility allows us to give a personalized service for each customer.
Our Headquarters are in San Fernando de Henares, near Madrid, where it is also located one of the two facilities of the company. The second one is located in Barcelona.
Indra Espacio is AQAP 110 and ISO 9001:2000 and 14001 certified, and is periodically re-certified by the relevant Spanish National Agencies (Spanish MoD for AQAP, and AENOR for ISO standard) by means of complete quality audits on the QA Environmental System.
Indra Espacio Economical – Financial update
In line with Indra’s figures, Indra Espacio has achieved an increase of 14% in its sales in Financial Year 2005. The net operating profit has also increased, confirming a positive result in spite of an environment which doubtless made it difficult to improve.
EARTH OBSERVATION
The growing interest in the monitoring and management of the Earth’s resources has resulted in an emerging Remote Sensing market, requesting data from satellite sensors with higher spatial resolution in different spectral bands.
Since 1984 Indra keeps on demonstrating its excellence in Earth Observation Systems, using data from all kind of satellites and instruments (Landsat, Spot, IRS, IKONOS, ERS, Meteosat, NOAA…), developing projects in several fields such as meteorology, environment, agriculture, hydrology, emergency management (flooding, forest fire…) or territorial planning. Nowadays, the Remote Sensing Department is a multi-task group of skilled engineers and technicians in Remote Sensing, SIG, Digital Image Processing and Software Development.
Technologies
-Engineering of Image Reception Stations
-Digital Image Processing: Optical and SAR
-Algorithms for radiometric and geometric corrections (Spot, Landsat, Helios, IKONOS, Eros, ERS…) -Software for linear objects detection (Optical and SAR)
-Image processing software based on Java technology
-Interferometric SAR data processing software: EPSIE 2000
-Implementation and customisation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
-Pattern Analysis and Recognition -Digital Cartography at different scales -Computer Aided Graphics and Artificial Vision
-Photo-interpretation of digital images
Systems
-Payload Data Processing Centres
-Multi-band receiving stations
-Image Exploitation Centres based on distributed architecture (Web server)
-Image Archive and Dissemination Systems
-Thematic Processing Centre for emergency situations
-Synthetic Aperture Radar Processor
Applications
-Cadastre
-Land Use
-Hydrology
-Agriculture
-Forest Farming
-Urban Development
-Oceanography
-Meteorology
-Real Scene Simulation (3D) -Volcanology / Seismology -Environmental Studies
-Forest Fire, Flooding
-Water quality
-Oil Spill
-Subsidence
-Risk assessment and mapping
-Change assessment
SMOS Data Processing Ground Segment
The European Space Agency has granted to Indra Espacio a contract for the development of the Data Processing Ground Segment of the SMOS mission, which shall be installed at ESAC (European Space Astronomy Centre).
SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) is the second selected Earth Explorer Opportunity Mission (Cryosat being the first). SMOS is intended to demonstrate the observation of two key variables, namely soil moisture over land and salinity over oceans, to advance the development of climatological, meteorological and hydrological models of the Earth. In addition, the mission should provide new insights into snow and ice structure, so helping to advance the understanding of the cryosphere.
The centre shall receive, process, archive and disseminate the global data acquired by the satellite, offering to the scientific community the salinity and soil moisture products generated (up to level 2).
Indra Espacio is responsible for the project management and system engineering activities as well as the development of the critical elements, from the data acquisition, with a proprietary solution for the 3,5 m. antenna, to the Core SW including processing management, archive, dissemination and monitoring and control.
The launch of the satellite is planned for September 2007, followed by a six month commissioning phase and an operational phase lasting 2.5 years. The operations phase can optionally be extended a further two years period.

JAGUAR – Expanding EO services in the Latin American and Caribbean regions

The European Space Agency has granted to INDRA a study aimed at supporting the expansion of the European EO services in the Latin American and Caribbean regions. This contract is funded within the EO Market Development programme.
Special emphasis shall be put on finding suitable partnerships schemes that allow establishing cooperation actions between companies and institutions of both continents.
During the study the Latin American and Caribbean markets shall be characterized by means of direct contacts and interviews with different local actors: value added companies, space agencies, main private and public customer organizations, etc. In addition, contacts with the main international donor agencies present in the region, as the World Bank or the Inter-American Development Bank, shall be established
An initial set of service trials shall be implemented in the thematic areas of land cover and land use, forest management, risks management and agriculture. Additional service cases could be included on the basis of the intermediate results achieved during the project.
At a last step, a strategic plan shall be outlined with the needed promotional actions for increasing the demand of the European capabilities, a detailed action plan with associated costing and planned partnerships and joint ventures.

In this issue of EOMAG, EARSC will have the privilege to feature an interview with Mr. Jean-Claude Michaca from ORACLE Corporation.

Oracle is the world leader in Information Infrastructure, Data Management, Sharing and Securing Information, it has about 15.2 B$ turnover and more than 56,133 employees (FY2005). Which is nowadays the business model in looking forward to establishing partnerships with the Earth Observation and Geo-information sectors?
Oracle is the world‘s largest enterprise software company and the uncontested leader in Information management. Oracle‘s business is information, how to manage it, use it, share it, protect it. For a successful launch, GMES requires a wide scope of technologies and applications such as Data Integration and normalization, Spatial content, Business Analytics and more. Oracle is the only company that can provide all the elements of this puzzle needed to run such a Platform while guaranteeing the scalability and performance
For introduction, could you briefly describe the current responsibilities of your Unit?
The international Account sales division was created 3 years ago to manage customer who need a consistent interaction with us throughout Europe Middle East and Africa. Within that group we have also the mandate to look after the large European and International Infrastructure projects such as Galileo, GMES, GAIA, SESAR and others
The notion of extending commercial database technology to accommodate the location-based or spatial data that fuels Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is not new. In fact, efforts to integrate robust data management systems with the analytics and the visualization tools common to GIS have been under way in one form or another for nearly as long as these systems for spatial analysis have been in use. What is the planned business model to integrate earth observation data? Which are the key processes that Oracle is expecting for the near future?
EO data should benefit areas such as disaster relief, national security and resource management across the EU. The value derived from EO data will depend primarily on the extent to which the data is complete, correct and current and can be integrated with other existing datasets. Data need to be of sufficient quality to be suitable for use in critical government and private sector decision-making and business processes.
While it is relatively simple to define such concepts, there are significant implementation challenges. The systems need to support very large databases (petabytes), they also need to scale as the number of users increases and there should be no discrimination made between spatial data and non-spatial data, both structured and unstructured.
Oracle has achieved to include in its product offerings the results of a number of fundamental technology breakthroughs that enable building such systems. The most important ones we can mention are the use of Spatial within databases, data integration, the ability to handle mixed workloads and grid computing.
While research and technological development (RTD) has succeeded in providing instruments and systems that now generate literally millions of environment-related data sets, there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of the interoperability of these systems and the effective and efficient management, integration and distribution of data in support of the citizens of every nation. How do you see the realization of structuring all these information?
Oracle has a long track record in managing vast amounts of Data of different types and integrating them into a platform that allows users to move from Data, to information to insight. Past experience has shown that with data integration, the value of data increases exponentially allowing customers to make better decisions. Concerning interoperability, Oracle is committed to building standards-based software to help customers reduce complexity and get the most out of existing technology investments. Our committed participation to the work of bodies like the Open Geospatial Consortium is a clear indication in this direction. Unfortunately the world is less then perfect and in the EO field we are confronted to different kind of data coming from different sources often presented in non-compatible forms. We have been confronted to a similar kind of challenge in the business software market space since more than a decade. To respond to these challenges Oracle has developed a comprehensive offering in terms of Service Oriented Architecture, Fusion Middleware and Web Services. The case of the ESA Service Support Environment (www.), where Oracle BPEL has been used to orchestrate synchronous and asynchronous web services based on Earth Observation products, is a showcase of how business software know-how can be successfully applied to services using earth observation data.
Interoperability focusing on the confirmed benefits of using standards-based interoperable geospatial technologies and the challenges for the future. Which are then in your opinion the steps from data to Information to Insight?
Moving from data to Information to Insight can be a costly and complex exercise. Oracle can propose various ways of moving towards a single source of customer information without a costly and complicated transition to a single system. Oracle Data Hub offering centralizes your data by creating an enterprise-wide master customer identity that serves all operational and analytical systems
Earth Observation technologies provide powerful tools for monitoring the state of the planet and the global impact of human activities. To enable citizens around the world to access the vast store of earth science satellite data, is the Information Infrastructure and Data Management the solution?What is the limitation?
Well-established technologies to handle large amounts of data are available nowadays. Data can come from different sources and access to it is already possible in a distributed, transparent and dynamic manner thanks to Grid Computing. Data Management can be highly automated and virtualized allowing a great level of flexibility and high-availability.
These technologies have been consolidated over the last years and now we are able to build a strong Information Infrastructure that really allows Knowledge Discovery and Sharing. Oracle is a key player and a thought leader in the field of Grid Computing and Data Management with consolidated solutions. The current challenge for the Information Infrastructure is to provide discovery and re-usable functionalities to integrate data that can be used by large groups of non-specialized people.
Tell me about your opinion on the Importance of Data Standardization for Generating High Quality Earth Observation Products. How do you see that an integrated infrastructure will allow the service providers to develop a new generation of services boosting the take up of the services?
Standardization is key to interoperability and integration. Services need to provide functionalities that can be reused and orchestrated in a modular and flexible manner. Standards like BPEL, Webservices and SOA, as well as technology based on Ontology and Semantic Grids will be at the core of an integrated infrastructure where services are the focal point. Oracle is highly committed to work in this direction: the company embraces these standards in its product and is an active member of standard bodies such as W3C, OGF. Oracle is also an active participant of EU initiatives to accelerate a future service-based computing architecture such as NESSI.
Thinking on industry partnership, will Oracle provide new capabilities to develop new services? Which is the expect interaction with the EO industry?
Oracle has a good record of industrial R&D partnership. For example, Oracle is a key partner in the CERN openlab, an R&D partnership between the High-Energy Physics lab based in Geneva, which is also the birthplace of the Web, and IT industry leaders. In the Netherlands, Oracle played a key role in the set-up of AlmereGrid, a collaboration between SMEs, local organizations (hospital and university) and IT leaders to run Medical projects for the community.
How is possible to combine the EO sector with the expanding communication in order to improve the economic dynamism and further extend the quality of life of citizens due EO capabilities?
This is indeed a market in its infancy. Nevertheless we already see some potential in it. Recently I came across an interesting service combining mobile communications, location and earth observation. Based on data collected by ESA EO satellites, the user, a “beach dweller”, is provided via SMS with information about the suggested time of exposure to sun, on the basis of a profile previously uploaded on the Internet and of his/her location. This is an example of how integrating different technologies, it is possible to devise creative and innovating services which may open new interesting markets.
How do you believe the EO VA market could expand in the next few years?
This is a difficult kind of question to answer: the experience shows that the market very rarely develops in the directions announced by people venturing in forecasts! Maybe also in the EO sector the future is in convergence. Convergence of different related technologies like EO, mobility, localization, location-based services.
Contact
Additional Information at
On EARSC behalf and personally I would like to thank ORACLE Corporation for the EOmag interview

More than 120 representatives of the European and Canadian EO value-adding sector took part in the ‘eoVox Stakeholders Consultation Workshop’ held on 14 September at ESRIN, ESA’s Centre for Earth Observation in Italy.

The workshop focused on the status and future of the Earth observation value-adding (EO VA) industry. It was organised by the eoVox Consortium which includes the European trade body for the industry – European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC). The eoVox Consortium was initiated by ESA to explore common issues affecting the Earth Observation (EO) service industry sector in Europe and Canada.
At present, some 250 (mostly small) companies are involved in the EO VA sector processing raw and semi-processed data from remote sensing instruments, and converting these into commercially useful information for end users.
The European sector employs about 2900 people and generates an estimated turnover of around €300 million, an amount that is growing annually at a rate of 6%.
Companies in this sector operate in a diverse range of land and ocean applications including agriculture, cartography, environmental monitoring, marine surveillance, ice mapping and monitoring of hazards both on land and sea (e.g. floods, fires, oil spills).
The eoVox workshop attracted a wide range of participants including representatives from many EO value-adding companies; potential customers of EO services such as AMEC (civil engineering), Shell (oil and gas), Microsoft (Virtual Earth), and a number of national EO trade organisations within Europe.
Conley-AMEC (left),Shaw-Shell Oil & Kamoun-EARSC
The prime objective of the workshop was to discuss a new industry Position Paper presenting the combined needs of the industrial sector and addressing the question: What should the public sector do to incubate the EO value-adding sector, and Why?
This paper is a first attempt to synthesise the risks and challenges that the EO VA sector faces and chart a commonly endorsed road map for the industry covering the next 10 years which identifies development actions for public funding to help the sector grow and strengthen.
Presentations at the workshop covered the key aspects of the EO services industry – significance and new trends and EO industry expectations from its trade association.
Participants were encouraged to voice their different opinions during splinter meetings on three important issues:
GMES and GEOSS: is it going to help or hinder the EO service industry?
• Making the most of research and development (R&D) and new technologies,
• Can EO industry work together to expand the downstream commercial market?
The workshop ended with the presentation of an item that the industry considers urgent; a one-page declaration on behalf of the industry to the EC lobbying for firm commitment of resources in the short to mid term (2006-2010) for key activities such as Global Monitoring of the Environment & Security (GMES), where the EO services industry can deliver benefits.
The eoVox Position Paper is now undergoing an open review process in which all those associated with the EO service industry in Europe and Canada are invited to participate. All comments and feedback should be sent to the eoVox Consortium by mid-October for the paper to be finalised by end-October, prior to being presented to the EC and ESA.
eoVox stakeholders consultation workshop
More information (including the Position Paper and the workshop presentations) can be found at the eoVox website.
(Source ESA)
Interest links

EARSC Board is glad to welcome four new Companies in our Association.

On EARSC behalf, we are certain that new Members will contribute actively to the aims of EARSC enthusiastically involved in coordinating and strengthening the Earth-observation chain and promoting the European Earth observation industry in programmes such as GMES and GEOSS.
EARSC Membership is nowadays increasing which encourage us in the Board of Directors to continue to do our best to fulfill the tasks that you as members could expect of the association. On EARSC behalf, Welcome!
More information about new members at:
1. BARCO Belgium – http://www.barco.com
2. CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites) – http://www.cls.fr
4. Kayser-Threde GMBHhttp://www.kayser-threde.com
EARSC membership represents the entire spectrum of the Earth Observation industry including all sector chain: providers, stakeholders and users. Membership of EARSC is currently 400 Euros per annum. For our members, the annual membership dues are a cost-effective way to stay informed, promote their company, political and institutional representation, networking opportunities with industry players and help support the future of Earth Observation. Industry together could transform activities into meaningful action on behalf of our sector.
EARSC membership is composed by full members and observer members
Full Members
Any commercial European company or partnership offering and undertaking consulting and contracting services or supplying equipment in the field of remote sensing which is based in a European Country which contributes to the European Space Agency or which is a member of the European Community shall be eligible for membership.
Observer Members
Companies from countries associated to European programs but not eligible for full membership. Any active representative organization, institution or association party in the field of Earth observation and not engaged in commercial or profit-making activities such as Public/Governmental Bodies, International Organisation, International Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Private Non Profit Organisation/Foundation, Network/Association/Aggregation of Intermediaries(profit or non profit), Business Association, Universities, other?) with interest in Earth Observation.

The links below provide access to all of the slides and other materials presented at the workshop, plus slides capturing the key feedback received at each session of the workshop.

Opening
Session 1: The VA Services Industry: Significance and New Trends
Session 2: EO Industry Expectations from its Trade Association
Part 1: eoVox initial analysis and findings – presentation by B. Holt Andersen, ControlWare)
Part 2: Scope of representation – presentation by J. Hartnor, Metria
Part 3: New benefits from a European trade association – presentation by M. Stuttard, Chairman of BARSC
EOPAGES Prototype (Link to online version)
Session 3: Working Groups
Feedback received from the three working groups
Session 4: Road Map for the future
Presentation by P. Kamoun, EARSC
Information on the Open review Process
(Source eoVox)

Thanks to the participation of a large number of Value-Adding companies and the provision of excellent facilities by ESA in Frascati, the EOVOX Stakeholders consultation Workshop has been a success with very interesting presentations and round tables, and tangible results in particular in the form of an agreement on a wide ranging Position Paper, a Declaration endorsed by the participants and a roadmap for the development of our industry.
The Declaration on the required public financing for the preservation and development of the European Earth Observation value-adding industry will be presented to European political institutions to be taken into account in the definition of the 7th Framework Programme financing procedures.
In particular EARSC as a European Trade Association has already begun to take professional lobbying action for the preservation and development of the EO VA Industry. In the very near future EARSC will take over the recommendations elaborated by the EOVOX project and will update you on the specific actions it is taking to coordinate these efforts. As we move forward with these plans, we will do in a dialog form, and united by a commitment to working in partnership with industry and stakeholders.
This Stakeholders Consultation Workshop has demonstrated once more that the Earth Observation and Geo-Information domains are strongly intertwined. Estimation of market revenues for one can be hardly separated from market revenues for the other.
The difficulty of developing an appropriate business model for these still emerging applications is one of the key challenges to tackle in the coming years. This is definitely an area where EARSC as a Trade Association will have a role to play and where the input from all the members will be most welcome.
We could also note in the EOVOX workshop itself that new actors in our landscape such as Microsoft and Oracle, to name just a couple of the biggest, are showing high interest in our domain, each one for its own business objectives and strategies, as expected in the real business world.
Once again I would like to invite EARSC members to join our working groups, the activities of which are essential in a time of strong evolution of our association.
Looking forward to seeing you at our next events and to receive all your comments and suggestions in the mean time.
With best regards from the Board.
EARSC Chairman
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Start Date End Date Event Web link Venue
03-jul- 06 06-jul-06 From sensors to imagery, ISPRS Symposium web Paris, France
04-jul-06 05-jul-06 Int. Conference on Object- based Image Analysis (OBIA06) web Salzburg, Austria
05-jul-06 07-jul-06 Symposium on Spatial accuracy assessment web Lisbon, Portugal
05-jul-06 07-jul-06 Geo-information for Development web Salzburg, Austria
08-jul-06 08-jul-06 ICA WK on Geospatial Analysis and Modelling web Vienna, Austria
10-jul-06 14-jul-06 GICON 2006, Geo-information connects Society web Vienna, Austria
11-jul- 06 13-jul-06 Data Mining & Information Engineering 2006 web Prague, Czech Republic
17-jul-06 17-jul-06 Seminar, Key challenge for International Security web Munich, Germany
17-jul-06 21-jul-06 WMO Climate Risk Conference web Espoo, Finland
18-jul-06 20-jul-06 GEOBrasil 2006 web Sao Paulo, Brasil
24- jul-06 04-aug-06 Monitoring of natural hazards from space Summer School web Alpbach, Austria
24-jul-06 28-jul-06 GeoWeb 2006 web Vancouver, Canada
31-jul-06 04-aug-06 IGARSS 2006 web Denver, USA
31-jul-06 11-aug-06 Summer School in Optoelectronic Techniques web Baia Mare, Romania
31-jul-06 04-ago-06 IEEE/IGARS 2006- International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium web Denver, Colorado
31-jul-06 11-aug-06 3rd Envisat Summer School web Frascati, Italy
27-aug-06 01-sep-06 International Disaster Reduction conference web Davos, Check Republic
05-aug-06 08-aug-06 ESRI survey and GIS Summit 2006 web San Diego, USA
07-aug-06 07-aug-06 WK on 3D Geo-information 2006 web Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
14-aug-06 18-aug-06 GISnet Conference web Hochiminh, Vietnam
21-aug-06 23-aug-06 GI-academy, Geomarketing web Dortmund, Germany
27-aug-06 30-aug-06 The digital Earth “06 Summit on Sustainability” web Auckland, New Zealand
03-sep-06 07-sep-06 ISPRS, Remote Sensing Supporting Sustainable Development web Haifa, Israel
03-sep-06 08-sep-06 2006, Inter. Congress for Mathematical Geology web Univ. Liège, Belgium
05-sep-06 07-sep-06 Sustainable irrigation 2006 web Bologna, Italy
05-sep-06 08-sep-06 RSPSoc, “Understanding a Changing World” web Univ. Cambridge, UK
11-sep-06 12-sep-06 Atlantic Europe Conference on Remote Imaging and Spectroscopy, AECRIS web Preston, UK
13-sep-06 15-sep-06 Commercial Remote Sensing Symposium web Washington, DC, US
14-sep-06 14-sep-06 EoVox stakeholder workshop web ESRIN, Frascati Itlay
14-sep-06 22-sep-06 9th Int. Symposium High Mountain RS Cartography web Graz, Austria
18-sep-06 20-sep-06 ICIAR 2006- Remote Sensing processing. web Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal
19-sep-06 21-sep-06 4th CHRIS Proba workshop web Frascati, Italy
19-sep-06 22-sep-06 ISPRS, Photogrammetric Computer vision web Bonn, Germany
19-sep-06 22-sep-06 XII Spanish Geographic Information Congress web Granada, Spain
20-sep-04 23-sep-06 4th International Conference on Geographic Inf. Science web Muenster, Germany
25-sep-06 26-sep-06 Geo.information for Disaster Management web Goa, India
25-sep-06 27-sep-06 ISPRS Commission V: Image engineering & vision metrology web Dresden, Germany
25-sep-06 29-sep-06 Advanced Training Course in Ocean Remote Sensing web   Hamburg, Germany
25-sep-06 29-sep-09 Int. Symposium: A
dvances in quantitative RS.- RAQRSÍI
web Torrent, Spain
26-sep-06 28-sep-06 The ADM- Aeolus workshop web Noordwijk, The Netherlands
26-sep-06 29-sep-06 UFRO Landscape Ecology WG. Consequences of Human management web Bari, Italy
26-sep-06 29-sep-06 URISA´s 44th Annual Conference & Exposition web Vancouver, Canada
28-sep-06 30-sep-06 2nd workshop of EARSeL Special interest group web Bonn, Germany
01-oct-06 08-oct-06 GMOSS summer School web Salzburg, Austria
01-oct-06 12-oct-06 ENERegion, potentials for renewable energy generation web Salzburg, Austria
03- oct-06 06-oct-06 CEOS SAR cal/val workshop web Edinburgh, UK
04-oct-06 06-oct-06 GIS & RS days web Goettingen, Germany
17-oct-06 18-oct-06 2nd International Workshop, the Future of Remote Sensing web Antwerp, Belgium
19-oct-06 20-oct-06 GlobWetland Symposium web Frascati, Italy
23-oct-06 25-oct-06 OceanSar 2006 web St.John´s Newfoundland, Canada
01-nov-06 03-nov-06 Water Resources in the Mediterranean Basin web Tripoli, Lebanon
03-nov-06 11-nov-06 CCT 2006, 9th International Earth Science Congress web Santiago de Chile, Chile
06-nov-06 08-nov-06 GOCE Workshop web Frascati, Italy
20-nov-06 24-nov-06 Australasian RS & Photogrammetry Confenrece web Canberra, Australia
27-nov-06 28-nov-06 ESA-EUSC 2006: Image Information Mining for Security and Intelligence web Madrid, Spain
04-dec-06 05-dec-06 RS for Earth Resources; exploration, extraction & environmental impacts web London, UK
04-dec-06 05-dec-06 HALO project web Reading, UK
04-dec-06 06-dec-06 WK on Geostationary Fire Monitoring & Applications web Darmstadt, Germany
06-dec-06 07-dec-06 International Symposium on Operational Applications web Toulouse, France
06-apr-07 07-apr-07 27th EARSeL Sympos. Geoinformation in Europe web Bolzano, Italy
23-apr-07 25-apr-07 5th EARSeL SIG-IS work. Imaging spectroscopy: innovation in environmental research web Bruges, Belgium
23-apr-07 27-apr-07 Envisat Symposium web Frascati, Italy
29-may-07 01-jun-07 ISPRS: High resolution Earth Imaging for geospatial information web Hannover, Germany
03-jul-08 11-jul-08 XXI congress, Int. Society for Photogrammetry & RS web Beijing, China

INNOVA‘s mission is transferring technologies from the world of research to industry.

INNOVA helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to acquire new technologies and research institutes to develop systems and application in response to industrial demand.
In the business-research duo, INNOVA acts as a bridge, fostering collaboration and the transfer of technology and knowledge.
(Credits Innova)

Ensuring free public access to environmental data
INSPIRE – or Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community – is a Commission proposal aiming to create a system for access to and exchange of spatial information needed to monitor the state of the environment, in particular the quality of air, water, soil and the countryside.

The European Parliament is aiming to ensure free public access to this information as the legislation returns at second reading.
INSPIRE aims to involve citizens more in environmental policy, give a larger role to local and regional authorities in the field and to enable better targeting and efficiency of environmental action at a cross-border level.
At its first reading Parliament aimed to reduce the obstacles in the way of public authorities seeking to share data and to reinforce the subsidiarity principle in the operation of INSPIRE, ensuring Member States and their local and regional authorities all play their proper part. Parliament also decided that intellectual property rights should not prevent the supply of data, although there was room for special access conditions. Altogether, some 49 amendments were adopted at first reading.
When it agreed its Common Position, the Council took account of just ten or so of these amendments, rejecting all of the most significant. The Environment Committee is therefore proposing that Parliament should reinstate them, including the removal of intellectual property rights from the list of exceptions to the general rule of access to data.
Free access, according to the committee, should without payment for members of the public – not only for those searching the data, but also for those consulting the data itself. MEPsare willing to take account of the costs of providing information to other public authorities, but in any case a fee should be limited to the costs actually incurred in processing the request.
The plenary session followed the advice of the Environment Committee and reinstated the main first reading amendments, the issue is therefore likely to go to conciliation. Parliament and Council will have to agree on a joint text before the measure can be finally adopted.
At the July plenary session, Parliament is scheduled to consider a third reading of legislation dealing with the similar issue of access to environmental data, specifically the application of the Aarhus convention to the EU institutions.
(Credits Eurogi)